Bio From AllMusic.Com
N.W.A., the unapologetically violent and sexist pioneers of gangsta rap, is in many ways the most notorious group in the history of rap. Emerging in the late '80s, when Public Enemy had rewritten the rules of hardcore rap by proving that it could be intelligent, revolutionary and socially aware, N.W.A. capitalized on PE's sonic breakthroughs while ignoring their message. Instead, the five-piece crew celebrated the violence and hedonism of the criminal life, capturing it all in blunt, harsh language. Initially, the group's relentless attack appeared to be serious, vital commentary, and it even provoked the FBI to caution N.W.A.'s record company, but following Ice Cube's departure late 1989, the group began to turn to self-parody. With his high-pitched whine, Eazy-E's urban nightmares now seemed like comic book fantasies, but that fulfilled the fantasies of the teenage, White suburbanites that had become their core audience, and the group became more popular than ever. Nevertheless, clashing egos prevented the band from recording a third album, and they fell apart once producer Dr. Dre left for a solo career in 1992. Although the group was no longer active, their influence — from their funky, bass-driven beats to their exaggerated lyrics — was evident throughout the '90s.

Ironically, in its original incarnation NWA was hardly revolutionary. Eazy-E (b. Eric Wright), a former drug dealer who started Ruthless Records with money he earned by pushing, was attempting to start a rap empire, by building a roster of successful rap artists. However, he wasn't having much success until Dr. Dre — a member of the World Class Wreckin' Cru — and Ice Cube (b. O'Shea Jackson) began writing songs for Ruthless. Eazy tried to give one of the duo's songs, "Boyz N The Hood," to Ruthless signees HBO and when the group refused, Eazy formed NWA — an acronym for Niggaz With Attitude — with Dre and Cube, adding World Class Wreckin' Cru member DJ Yella (b. Antoine Carraby), the Arabian Prince and The D.O.C. to the group.

N.W.A.'s first album, N.W.A. And The Posse, was a party-oriented jam record that largely went ignored upon its 1987 release. In the following year, the group added MC Ren and revamped their sound, bringing in many of the noisy, extreme sonic innovations of Public Enemy and adopting a self-consciously violent and dangerous lyrical stance. Late in 1988, N.W.A. delivered Straight Outta Compton, a vicious hardcore record that became an underground hit with virtually no support from radio, the press or MTV. N.W.A. became notorious for their hardcore lyrics, especially those of "Fuck Tha Police," which resulted in the FBI sending a warning letter to Ruthless and its parent company Priority, suggesting that the group should watch their step.

Most of the group's political threat left with Ice Cube when he departed in late 1989 amidst many financial disagreements. A nasty feud between N.W.A. and Cube began that would culminate with Cube's "No Vaseline," an attack on the group's management released on his 1991 Death Certificate album. By the time the song was released, N.W.A., for all intents and purposes, was finished.

In the two years between Ice Cube's departure and the group's dissolution, N.W.A. was dominated by Eazy-E's near-parodic lyrics and Dr. Dre's increasingly subtle and complex productions. The group quickly released an EP, 100 Miles And Runnin', in 1990 before following it up early the next year with EFIL4ZAGGIN ("Niggaz 4 Life" spelled backward). EFIL4ZAGGIN was teeming with dense, funky soundscapes and ridiculously violent and misogynist lyrics. Naturally, the lyrics provoked outrage from many critics and conservative watchdogs, but that only increased the group's predominately male, White suburban audience. Even though the group was at the peak of their popularity, Dre began to make efforts to leave the crew, due to conflicting egos and what he perceived as an unfair record deal.

Dre left the group to form Death Row Records with Suge Knight in early 1992. According to legend, Knight threatened to kill NWA's manager Jerry Hibbler (His name is actually Jerry Heller - D) if he refused to let Dre out of his contract. Over the next few years, Dre and Eazy engaged in a highly-publicized feud, which included both of the rappers attacking each other on their respective solo albums. MC Ren and Yella both released solo albums, which were largely ignored, and Eazy-E continued to record albums that turned him into a complete self-parody until his tragic death from AIDS in March 1995. Before he died, Dre and Cube both made amends with Eazy. With his first solo album, 1992's The Chronic, Dr. Dre established himself as the premier hip-hop producer of the mid-'90s, setting the pace for much of hardcore rap with its elastic bass and deep, rolling grooves. Gangsta rap established itself as the most popular form of hip-hop during the '90s — in other words, N.W.A.'s amoralistic, hedonistic stance temporarily triumphed over the socially conscious, self-award hip-hop of Public Enemy, and it completely rewrote the rules of hip-hop for the '90s. — Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Ice Cube's Bio From AllMusic.Com
Ice Cube was the first member of the seminal Californian rap group N.W.A. to leave, and he quickly established himself as one of hip-hop's best and most controversial artists. From the outset of his career, he courted controversy, since his rhymes were profane and political. As a solo artist, his politics and social commentary sharpened substantially, and his first two records, Amerikkka's Most Wanted and Death Certificate, were equally praised and reviled for their lyrical stance, which happened to be considerably more articulate than many of his gangsta peers. As his career progressed, Ice Cube's influence began to decline, particularly as he tried to incorporate elements of contemporary groups like Cypress Hill into his sound, but his stature never diminished, and he remained one of the biggest rap stars throughout the '90s.

For such a revolutionary figure, Ice Cube (b. O'Shea Jackson) came from a surprisingly straight background. Raised in south-central Los Angles, where both of his parents had jobs at UCLA, Cube didn't become involved with B-Boy culture until his late teens. He began writing raps while in high school, including "Boyz N Da Hood." With his partner Sir Jinx, Cube began rapping in a duo called C.I.A. at parties hosted by Dr. Dre, and he eventually met Eazy-E, then leading a group called HBO, through Dre. Eazy asked Cube to write a rap, and he presented them with "Boyz N Da Hood," which was rejected. Eazy-E decided to leave C.I.A. and he, Ice Cube and Dr. Dre formed the first incarnation of N.W.A. Cube left to study architectural drafting at Phoenix, Arizona in 1987, returning the following year after he obtained a one-year degree. He arrived just in time for N.W.A.'s debut album, Straight Outta Compton. Released late in 1988, Straight Outta Compton became an underground hit over the course of 1989, and its extreme lyrical content — which was over-the-top both lyrically and politically — attracted criticism, most notably from the FBI.

N.W.A. may have been rivaling Public Enemy as the most notorious group in hip-hop, but Ice Cube was having deep conflicts with their management, resulting in him leaving the band in late 1989. He went to New York with his new posse, Da Lench Mob, and recorded his first solo album with Public Enemy's production team, the Bomb Squad. Released in the spring of 1990, his debut Amerikkka's Most Wanted was an instant hit, going gold within its first two weeks of release. While the record's production and Cube's rhythmic skills were praised, his often violent, homophobic and misogynist lyrics were criticized, particularly by the rock press and moral watchdogs. Even admist such controversy, the album was hailed as a groundbreaking classic within hip-hop, and it established Cube as an individual force. He began his own corporation, which was run by a woman, and he produced the debut album from his female protegee, Yo-Yo. At the end of 1990, he released the EP Kill At Will, which was followed in the spring by Yo-Yo's debut, Make Way for the Motherlode. That summer, his acting debut in John Singleton's acclaimed urban drama Boyz 'N The Hood was widely praised.

Amerikkka's Most Wanted may have been controversial, but it paled next the furor surrounding Cube's second album, Death Certificate. Released late in 1991, Death Certificate was simultaneously more political and vulgar than its predecessor, it caused more outrage. In particular, "No Vaseline," a vicious attack on N.W.A. manager Jerry Heller, was perceived as anti-Semitic, and "Black Korea" was taken as a racist invocation to burn down all Korean-owned grocery stores. The songs provoked a public condemnation from the trade publication Billboard. It was the first time an artist had been singled-out by the magazine. The furor over Death Certificate didn't prevent it from reaching number two and going platinum. During 1992, he toured with the second Lollapalooza tour in a successful attempt to consolidate his white rock audience. He also converted to the Nation of Islam during 1992, which was evident on his next album, The Predator. Upon its release in December of 1992, The Predator became the first album to debut at number one on both the pop and R&B charts. The steady-rolling single "It Was a Good Day" and the Das Efx collaboration "Check Yo Self" made the album Cube's most popular.

However, Ice Cube's hold on the mass rap audience was beginning to slip. His former collegue, Dr. Dre, was dominating hip-hop with his stoned G-Funk, and Cube tried to keep pace with 1993's Lethal Injection. While the album debuted at number five and went platinum, its funkier sound wasn't well-received. Lethal Injection was Cube's last offical album for several years. In 1994, he wrote and produced Da Lench Mob's debut Guerillas in the Mist, and produced Kam's debut Neva Again, releasing a remix and rarities collection Bootlegs & B-Sides at the end of the year. In 1995, he kept quiet, appearing in Singleton's film Higher Learning and making amends with Dre on their duet "Natural Born Killaz." The following year, he acted in the comedy Friday, which he wrote himself. He also formed the Westside Connection with Mack 10 and WC, releasing their debut album, Bow Down, at the end of the year. It went gold within its first month of release. In the spring of 1997, Cube starred in the surprise hit horror film, Anaconda. War & Peace-The War Disc followed in 1998; its sequel, The Peace Disc, followed two years later.

Cube spent the next few years devoting his time to film. Three Kings, Ghosts of Mars, and the big hit Barbershop all appeared in theaters before the rapper returned to music with Westside Connection's sophomore effort, Terrorist Threats, which appeared in 2003. Three years later he revived his barely used Lench Mobb label for his solo comeback album, Laugh Now, Cry Later. In the Movies, a compilation of soundtrack cuts, was put together for a 2007 release. A year later he returned with Raw Footage, an album filled with Cube's observations on politics along with the single "I Got My Locs On" featuring special guest Young Jeezy. — Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Dr. Dre's Bio From AllMusic.Com
More than any other rapper, Dr. Dre was responsible for moving away from the avant-noise and political stance of Public Enemy and Boogie Down Productions, as well as the party vibes of old school rap. Instead, Dre pioneered gangsta rap and his own variation of the sound, G-Funk. BDP's early albums were hardcore but cautionary tales of the criminal mind, but Dre's records with N.W.A. celebrated the hedonistic, amoralistic side of gang life. Dre was never much of a rapper — his rhymes were simple and his delivery was slow and clumsy — but as a producer, he was extraordinary. With NWA he melded the noise collages of the Bomb Squad with funky rhythms. On his own, he reworked George Clinton's elastic funk into the self-styled G-Funk, a slow-rolling variation that relied more on sound than content. When he left N.W.A. in 1992, he founded Death Row Records with Suge Knight, and the label quickly became the dominant force in mid-'90s hip-hop thanks to his debut, The Chronic. Soon, most rap records imitated its sound, and his productions for Snoop Doggy Dogg, Warren G and Blackstreet were massive hits. For nearly four years, G-funk dominated hip-hop, and Dre had enough sense to abandon it and Death Row just before the whole empire collapsed in late 1996. Dre retaliated by forming a new company, Aftermath, and while it was initially slow getting started, his bold moves forward earned critical respect.

Dr. Dre (b. Andre Young, February 18, 1965) became involved in hip-hop during the early '80s, performing at house parties and clubs with the World Class Wreckin' Cru around South Central Los Angeles, and making a handful of recordings along the way. In 1986, he met Ice Cube, and the two rappers began writing songs for Ruthless Records, a label started by former drug pusher Eazy-E. Eazy tried to give one of the duo's songs, "Boyz N the Hood," to HBO, a group signed to Ruthless. When the group refused, Eazy formed NWA — an acronym for Niggaz With Attitude — with Dre and Cube, releasing their first album in 1987. A year later, N.W.A. delivered Straight Outta Compton, a vicious hardcore record that became an underground hit with virtually no support from radio, the press or MTV. N.W.A. became notorious for their hardcore lyrics, especially those of "Fuck tha Police," which resulted in the FBI sending a warning letter to Ruthless and its parent company Priority, suggesting that the group should watch their step.

Most of the group's political threat left with Ice Cube when he departed in late 1989 admist many financial disagreements. While Eazy-E appeared to be the undisputed leader following Cube's departure — and he was certainly responsible for the group approaching near-parodic levels with their final pair of records — the music was in Dre's hands. On both the 1990 EP 100 Miles And Runnin and the 1991 album EFIL4ZAGGIN ("Niggaz 4 Life" spelled backward), he created dense, funky sonic landscapes that were as responsible for keeping NWA at the top of the charts as Eazy's comic-book lyrics. While the group was at the peak of their popularity in 1991, Dre began to make efforts to leave the crew, especially after he was charged with assaulting the host of a televised rap show in 1991. The following year, Dre left the group to form Death Row Records with Suge Knight. According to legend, Knight held NWA's manager at gun point and threatening to kill him if he refused to let Dre out of his contract.

Dr. Dre released his first solo single, "Deep Cover," in the spring of 1992. Not only was the record the debut of his elastic G-funk sound, it also was the beginning of his collaboration with rapper Snoop Doggy Dogg. Dre discovered Snoop through his stepbrother Warren G, and he immediately began working with the rapper — Snoop was on Dre's 1992 debut The Chronic as much as Dre himself. Thanks to the singles "Nuthin' But a 'G' Thang," "Dre Day" and "Let Me Ride," The Chronic was a multi-platinum, Top 10 smash, and the entire world of hip-hop changed with it. For the next four years, it was virtually impossible to hear mainstream hip-hop that wasn't affected in some way by Dr. Dre and his patented G-Funk. Not only did he produce Snoop Dogg's 1993 debut Doggystyle, but he orchestrated several soundtracks, including Above the Rim and Murder Was the Case (both 1994), which functioned as samplers for his new artists and production techniques, and he helmed hit records by Warren G ("Regulate") and Blackstreet, among others, including a hit reunion with Ice Cube, "Natural Born Killaz." During this entire time, Dre released no new records, but he didn't need to — all of Death Row was under his control and most of his peers mimicked his techniques.

The Death Row dynasty held strong until the spring of 1996, when Dre grew frustrated with Knight's strong-arm techniques. At the time, Death Row was devoting itself to 2Pac's label debut All Eyez On Me (which featured Dre on the breakthrough hit, "California Love") and Snoop was busy recovering from his draining murder trial. Dre left the label in the summer of 1996 to form Aftermath, declaring gangsta rap was dead. While he was subjected to endless taunts from his former Death Row colleagues, their sales slipped by 1997 and Knight was imprisoned on racketeering charges by the end of the year. Dre's first album for Aftermath, the various artists collection Dr. Dre Presents...The Aftermath received considerable media attention, but the record didn't become a hit, despite the presence of his hit single, "Been There Done That." Even though the album wasn't a success, the implosion of Death Row in 1997 proved that Dre's inclinations were correct at the time. Both Chronic 2001 and its companion volume 2001 Instrumental followed in 1999. — Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Eazy-E's Bio From AllMusic.Com
Whether as a member of N.W.A., a solo act, or a label head, Eazy-E was one of the most controversial figures in gangsta rap. While his technical skills as a rapper were never the greatest, his distinctive delivery (invariably described as a high-pitched whine), over-the-top lyrics, and undeniable charisma made him a star. Following N.W.A.'s breakup, E's street credibility took a major beating, though his recordings continued to sell well when they appeared; unfortunately, he was diagnosed with AIDS in 1995, and died not long after.

Eric "Eazy-E" Wright was born September 7, 1964, in Compton, CA, a rough part of the Los Angeles metro area that N.W.A. would later make notorious. A high school dropout, Wright turned to drug dealing to support himself, and eventually used the profits to start his own rap label, Ruthless Records, with partner and music-business veteran Jerry Heller. E discovered a major performing talent in The D.O.C., and recruited Ice Cube and Dr. Dre to write songs for his stable of artists. When their composition "Boyz-N-the Hood" was rejected by Ruthless signee HBO, Cube, Dre, and E formed the first version of N.W.A. to record it themselves. Their first album, N.W.A. And The Posse, was released in 1987 and largely ignored; after a few tweaks of the lineup and the rough-edged subject matter, 1988's Straight Outta Compton made N.W.A. into superstars. E seized the opportunity to release a solo project later in the year, titled Eazy Duz It, which would be the only full-length album he would complete; it would sell well over two-million copies.

After Ice Cube's bitter departure from N.W.A. toward the end of 1989 (precipitated in part by Heller's business tactics), Eazy-E took over his not inconsiderable share of the rapping and songwriting duties, becoming the group's dominant voice on 1991's N.W.A. - EFIL4ZAGGIN. His taste for cartoon-ish vulgarity began to undermine the claims of realistic inner-city reporting that the group had used to defend themselves. Disputes between the members led to N.W.A.'s breakup that summer, and a court battle between Ruthless and Dre's new label Death Row soon followed, with Eazy alleging that Death Row head Suge Knight had coerced Ruthless into releasing Dre from his contract. The case was eventually thrown out, but a bitter feud between Dre and Eazy raged for the next several years; Dre's seminal solo debut The Chronic made merciless fun of Eazy. E's 1992 solo EP 5150 Home 4 Tha Sick sold well, but did little to dispel his increasingly cartoon-ish image; he found more success running the Ruthless label, with a roster that included Above the Law, N.W.A. bandmate MC Ren, the poorly received all-female group H.W.A. (Hoez With Attitude), and, eventually, the lucrative Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. Eazy addressed his feud with Dre on the 1993 EP It's On (Dr. Dre) 187um Killa, which famously included an actual photo of Dre wearing makeup and sequins during his World Class Wreckin' Cru days. Still, save for dissing Dre, Eazy didn't seem to have much to say, and despite healthy record sales, his artistic credibility was declining at an alarming rate. Eazy didn't help matters much when, in early 1993, he spoke out in support of Theodore Briseno, the only LAPD officer involved in the Rodney King beating to express displeasure; later in the year, he paid 2,500 dollars to attend a Republican fund-raiser, which his detractors saw as a further betrayal of his roots.

In early 1995, Eazy entered the hospital with respiratory difficulties, believing he had developed asthma. The diagnosis was far more serious: he had contracted AIDS. Eazy announced his plight to the public shortly thereafter, winning admiration for his straightforward attitude. Sadly, just a few weeks later, on March 26, 1995, the disease claimed his life. The record he had been working on, Str8 Off The Streetz Of Muthaphuckin Compton, was released posthumously (in unfinished form) later on in the year. In 2002, on the seventh anniversary of his death, some previously unreleased material from the Ruthless vaults was released as the EP Impact Of A Legend, which was accompanied by a DVD. - Steve Huey

MC Ren's Bio From AllMusic.Com
MC Ren had a much less-celebrated solo career than most of his former bandmates in N.W.A., despite enjoying some commercial success. Born Lorenzo Patterson on June 14, 1969, Ren was recruited to join N.W.A. in 1988 while still attending high school. He was a strong presence on the group's landmark Straight Outta Compton later that year, and also wrote several tracks for Eazy-E's solo debut, Eazy Duz It. Following 1991's Niggaz4Life, N.W.A. disbanded acrimoniously, and Ren stuck with Ruthless Records, kicking off his solo career with the six-song EP Kizz My Black Azz in 1992. It sold well, making the Top Ten on the R&B chart and nearly doing the same on the pop side. Ren subsequently converted to the Nation of Islam, which helped out relations with the remainder of N.W.A.; he patched up his differences with Ice Cube, and remained neutral in the heated feud between Dr. Dre and Eazy-E. Meanwhile, he released his first full-length album, Shock Of The Hour, in 1993 (the original title, "Life Sentence," was changed following his conversion). It hit number one on the R&B charts and sold quite well for a brief window of time. Shaken by Eazy-E's death from AIDS, Ren returned in 1996 with The Villan In Black, which found him working a G-funk blueprint with help from Above The Law. It, too, made the R&B Top Ten, and sold respectably well without much airplay support. Ren further updated his sound on 1998's Ruthless For Life, which briefly made the R&B Top 20. - Steve Huey

DJ Yella's Bio From AllMusic.Com
Antoine Carraby went on to become the least vocal but longest-lasting member of the controversial rap group known as N.W.A. Calling himself DJ Yella (from the Tom Tom Club's "Mr. Yellow"), he was the sole member of the group to stay loyal to Eazy-E while the other members threw around accusations of missing money and bad business deals. Maintaining a quiet dignity about the situation, he remained the one member to not choose sides and avoided any of their solo attacks on one another. Born and raised in Compton, CA, DJ Yella grew up listening to funk music and learned to play the drums. DJing in Los Angeles clubs as a teenager, he soon met Dr. Dre and the two became fast friends. Influenced by Grandmaster Flash, Dre and Yella formed the World Class Wreckin' Cru in the early '80s to try and capitalize on the new form of music. After watching Run-D.M.C. perform in California for the first time, the two DJs were amazed to see them on-stage with nothing more than a DJ scratching records. They attempted to make a few records with the World Class Wreckin' Cru, but financial problems resulted in Dre contacting high school friend Eazy-E about starting a group. Eazy-E was a successful drug dealer who had money to burn and an enthusiastic mind for business, and the two soon left Yella back in the Wreckin' Cru. Dre brought Yella into the group when a track they had produced and written for another group, "Boyz in the Hood," was turned down by the rappers who were originally going to do it. They convinced Eazy-E to rap it and suddenly they had their first single. MC Ren came into the picture soon after and Wreckin' Cru associate/lyricist Ice Cube was also drafted into the situation. They called themselves N.W.A. and crafted a hard-edged, angry sound that was highly influenced by Public Enemy, among others. Between their original singles and the recording of the classic Straight Outta Compton album, DJ Yella and the others worked on the single-promotions angle of the group while Ice Cube attended college. Dre and Yella also worked on beats together, while they continued to try and convince Eazy-E to keep rapping because they liked his image. When Straight Outta Compton came out, the following media explosion planted the seeds of dissent in the group. Ice Cube asked Yella about working on a solo album with him, but when the group decided to concentrate on Eazy-E's solo album first, Cube left the group and began accusing them of financial misgivings in the press. Their political edge disappeared with Cube and the group began to split apart when Eazy-E started writing his own lyrics and Dre and Yella's production styles began to audibly clash on their material. Dre left the group over his contract with Eazy-E in 1992, leaving MC Ren to wander off on his own while Yella and Eazy-E agreed to continue working together. They didn't collaborate often, but in 1994 they worked on material that would eventually end up on Eazy-E's Str8 Off The Streetz Of Muthaphukkin' Compton and Eternal E albums. At this point, Yella's contract with Eazy's Ruthless Records had run out, but his loyalty to his former boss prevented him from leaving his side. Eazy-E died three months after those recording sessions, with Yella claiming he was the only N.W.A. member to see Eazy-E in the hospital before he fell into a coma, despite different claims from Dre and Ice Cube. Not including that odd clash of stories, the hatchet was buried between the four remaining members and they went their separate ways to pay tribute to Eazy-E. Dropping the DJ for a spell, Yella released his solo album in 1996, the aptly titled One Mo' Nigga Ta Go (all of N.W.A. had released solo albums but him). He collaborated with several rappers on this album, still refusing to pick up the microphone despite years in the genre. The album was a flop, but it did establish a relationship with Big Man, an associate of Eazy-E's, who appeared all over the album. After a few years of relative inactivity, N.W.A. reunion rumors ran rampant, with the general idea being that Snoop Dogg could take Eazy-E's place. DJ Yella (the DJ was back in his name) expressed interest in the project, but was not approached for the various interviews and live appearances that MC Ren, Ice Cube, and Dr. Dre were making. Still being a good sport about it, he appeared in a video with the old members and agreed to work on their reunion album after their 2000 Up in Smoke tour. Although Yella wasn't brought out on tour with the group, he anxiously awaited the reunion until December of that year. Dre bowed out of the project because he was disappointed with the results, while Ice Cube was due to start filming Ghosts of Mars with only a few songs recorded. With the reunion scrapped, Yella and Big Man decided to try their hand at other industries. Yella had produced the occasional porn film throughout the '90s under the pseudonym Tha Kidd, but in spring of 2001, he announced his intentions to bring his small-time Lo-Key Productions to the Internet and release his own pornography, known as DJ Yella's Chronic Volumes, through his website. His approach was to blend hip-hop music and "reality based" situations into a more mature version of pornography, while continuing to champion the ill-fated N.W.A. reunion. Although Yella managed to produce a significant amount of porn, the website closed down and he dropped out of the spotlight again in 2001. - Bradley Torreano

World Class Wrecking Cru's Bio From AllMusic.Com
The World Class Wreckin' Cru recorded some solid West Coast electro with Dr. Dre in the production chair, hitting the pop charts with a smooth love jam named "Turn Off the Lights" during 1988, the same year Dre's N.W.A. delivered the gangsta landmark Straight Outta Compton. The group was formed by Lonzo (Alonzo Williams), owner of the Compton club Eve After Dark, who recruited a pair of popular local DJs, Dr. Dre and DJ Yella, along with Dre's high-school friend Cli-N-Tel. Early singles like "Surgery" and "Juice" — many of them recorded at a four-track studio that was part of the Eve After Dark complex — stood alongside work by the Egyptian Lover and L.A. Dream Team as stellar examples of the fast-moving fusion of old school rap and electro. But even as the World Class Wreckin' Cru became one of southern California's most popular rap acts, Dr. Dre and DJ Yella were pursuing other production opportunities, one of which came from a new label (Ruthless) formed by Eazy-E. Along with Ice Cube, they wrote a single named "Boyz-n-the Hood" that was initially offered to the Ruthless act HBO, but later prompted the entire crew to form as N.W.A. After street-level singles like "Dopeman" and "8 Ball" became huge local hits, the World Class Wreckin' Cru became less of a priority for both Dr. Dre and Yella. Even after the loverman ballad "Turn Off the Lights" entered the R&B Top 40 in 1988, they continued with N.W.A. Phases in Life, a World Class Wreckin' Cru LP released in 1990, was basically a solo release by Lonzo. - John Bush